Ms. Jenkins received a B.A. in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. She began her career with the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) as an electron microscopist (EM) technician in the laboratory of Dr. Stanley Rapoport. In this capacity, she provided technical support to several junior scientists in the area of study involving transport across the blood-brain barrier in animal models.
After leaving NIA, Ms Jenkins was employed as a Research Associate with the Fidia-Georgetown Institute for the Neurosciences located at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She was instrumental in establishing the EM laboratory there and worked in the area of brain metabolism, specifically the compartmental movement of molecules across membranes. She has been a co-author and has received technical acknowledgements on several publications. While working witho Fidia-Georgetown, Ms. Jenkins positioned herself to explore the opportunity to compete for and accept a slot in the post-baccalaureate program at Georgetown University School of Medicine. She later returned to the NIH to assume an administrative role as a Program Specialist at the NCI in the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis in the then-named AIDS Malignancy Program, under Drs. Ellen Feigal and Jodi Black.
Her current NCI appointment is as a Program Specialist with the Office of HIV and AIDS Malignancy (OHAM), under the direction of Dr. Robert Yarchoan. In this capacity, she facilitates grant funding to existing and prospective grantees of the two OHAM programs, AMP and ACCP. She provides administrative support to grantees; communicates these actions back to program and grants administration staff for review, input, and implementation; and provides other expertise in the management of the OHAM and NCI AIDS grant portfolio.